Yeah... I really don't think so. It takes more than a month to get all the dungeon pieces, for that alone. I've been playing for over a year and STILL haven't gotten a legendary. If you breeze through the game and don't stop to take in the lore and everything? Then yeah, it's going to be boring. But so is every other game.

Well, yeah, like I just said the game is more for completionists and PvP lovers. Playing the game just for a GAME, then a month is about all you need to beat it. Crafting was piss easy and I crafted full Exotics which seemed to be it besides Legendaries and that seemed like a waste of time. There's a difference in people who play though. Those who play the GAME and those who are looking to play just a MMO. I fall into the latter, for people like me, it seems the game was for too little for what it is. For the others? There's so much to do it's stupid. But, then again, those are two different sets of people.

I find WoW boring, conversely, and gave it a plenty fair shake of five years. Since WoW's first year endgame content was Ashbringer, I find most of the arguments against GW2 for lack of gear and lack of endgame pretty absurd. At a month in, you have not finished the game. You are probably not experienced enough to even give dungeons a competent attempt. I'm sure you can decide at the one month mark whether a game is for you or not, so that's fair- but let's be honest about how much of it you breezed through.

At a month in my thief was 80 in full exotic-tier gear - leather I crafted myself, weapons I got from dungeon tokens and a mystic forge recipe (shortbow) - for Berzerker set and Carrion (I think? The bleed damage stat, whatever that one is) set for when I briefly tried a bleed-emphasis build that I switched off of when it proved inferior to straight up critstab for any kind of group play (since bleed stacks have a cap).

This was before the new content patches even started so Ascended wasn't even a blip on the horizon at the time. And now that it is? Ascended gear, for the most part, is a marginal upgrade over exotic that requires inane amounts of grind to get, far more time than it's worth for such little effective gain. Legendaries at least have some use now with the free stat-switching ability they get, but that's an even crazier grind for, again, hardly any material benefit - a benefit which, to be frank, isn't even necessary given the game doesn't even require full exotics to do everything in it. It's basically a tiny leg up in pvp, which, if you don't care about pvp, doesn't mean much.

Part of the problem is the level scaling zones. This mechanic has upsides: makes it easier to bring friends into the game, helps keep things from feeling trivial when you want to go back in time (though let's be honest, if you're in exotics+ and go anywhere sub-50 it's going to be pretty hard to die regardless, harder if you're a heavy class), means you can effectively "grind" anywhere if that's your thing, that's all well and good. On the other hand, it makes it harder to just quickly farm up materials or just walk through a zone when you can't completely ignore everything in it, things you've been killing for months and, frankly, are sick to death of fighting altogether. The latter's a problem exacerbated by finding pretty much the same enemies everywhere.

On a personal note: fuck vistas. Seriously. Exploration is generally one of the things I enjoy most in these vast world MMORPGs, it's one of the things I look for in a game like this. I still don't have 100% map completion because I just cannot scrounge up enough motivation to hunt down all these "stand on this one key spot you have to find a secret path to reach even though it looks like you should be able to climb up to it these three other ways that are blocked by funky geometry/invisible walls/bullshit" points required to count as having "explored" the map. And don't even get me started on jumping puzzles in a game very much not built for refined platforming control. Also, how many of the group events and other triggered deals are still broken after the game's been open for how long now? Maybe slow down the new content patches to fix some things that haven't worked consistently since release first? Just a thought.

Don't get me wrong, WoW has its issues, too. (Keep in mind that present tense "has" is actually talking about WoW as of several years ago, as I quit for good only a couple months into Cataclysm.) Endgame in pretty much any MMO tends to be a grindfest with WoW being no exception, but at least it made its grinds feel achievable in a sane amount of time, for one, and for two they had some kind of tangible payoff. "Your sword looks glowier now" does not justify months of material gathering. It just doesn't. And that's all legendaries were in GW2 until very recent changes. Legendaries in WoW were practically game-changing items for the amount of impact they had, and took considerably less time and effort to acquire. Still a lot - several raids, questlines, etc. - but less than GW2 legendaries and far less mind-numbingly repetitive in nature.

Zone diversity was also a boon for alt creation. GW2's leveling system is very smooth, very clean and, overall, I think it's probably the best thing in the entire game. The way partying while leveling is essentially a built-in background feature of the system, everyone seamlessly moving in and out of each others' paths of progression just by being in proximity, it's pretty great as a concept and, in execution, they even managed to pull it off pretty well. As well as could be expected at the very least; there's only so much they could do about the problem of balancing events anticipating that kind of global cooperative effort once the first big wave of leveling is over and far fewer people exist in lower-level zones, making some group events that were unpopular become essentially impossible to complete for people who wanted to try them. That's not really a game issue, that's a playerbase issue and it's guaranteed to exist in some form in any and every MMO - it can't be prevented, only mitigated. Overall I'd give it an A-.

...on my first character.

My second, though? Well...here's the thing. On my first character, because of how fast you can burn through all the "quests" in an area and start wanting to move into the next, it's very easy to end up outleveling all your local options in short order. This presents you with a couple of options: go crafting to level up to the next "tier" of content so you can get back to quest-farming, grind enemies and repeat dynamic events in the areas you can survive to level up the direct (read as: hard) way, or just go to some other race's starting zones and burn through their quest hubs, too. This meant that by the time my thief was done leveling I'd already gone through the content of pretty much all the zones available (exceptions: Sparkfly Fen, Caledon Forest, Frostgorge Sound, Blazeridge Steppes, and about half of Mount Maelstrom), so when I tried making an alt the already repetitive gameplay was exaggerated: I had almost no options for doing content I hadn't already done (several times, in some cases) to level a new character to cap.

Making new characters was pretty much what kept me going in WoW as long as I did. If I'd just stayed on my first Warlock and never found another class/race combo that appealed to me for grinding up, I doubt I'd have even made it into LK. Instead, when I grew tired of my raid-geared face-melting 0/21/40 warlock (ah, the good old days of shadownuke), I rolled up a few others until I found one that stuck: Belf Rogue. The Blood Elf starting zone, despite being heavily undead-themed, felt surprisingly different from the Forsaken starting zone (less emphasis on torturing/destroying humans, for one), left things pretty open-ended on where to go after around 20, and there were enough zone options around the map that I could go to places I hadn't already done to death on previous playthroughs. This was more of a problem after getting into BC/LK content where, again, your options for regrind are pretty narrow, which is when Cata came along and mixed everything up so much that I had fun leveling a brand new paladin from 0 to cap in a few weeks of bunny justice (...it's a long story). The classes all played through the content very differently, the content itself I chose to go through was varied (until the expansions x.x), there were new things to DO.

GW2...it's just a samey, repetitive mess after a while. It's so static. The "content updates" don't really update anything so much as paste new distractions into the middle of the same ol' same ol'. The classes do theoretically play very differently from one another, but I can't find it in me to care, especially when I have to keep listening to the same battle cries constantly with the same voices reminding me of how my character just has no soul (since every character of a given race has the same "attitude"). "I could outrun a centaur!" "Eat my dust!" "I could outrun a centaur!" "Urge to kill rising!" "Time to do some real damage!" "I could outrun a centaur!" "I feel strong!" "I could ou-" SHUT. UP. (I'm sure there's an option to turn off those messages, but that doesn't exactly help with the whole "faceless everyperson" aspect either.)

The lore? It never really grabbed me. I liked the voiced main quest interactions, those were mostly done pretty well. It was all set up to be handled well. It just...never seemed like it could decide how seriously it was taking itself, I guess.

Yes, I'm looking at you, Tybalt.

It was hard to get any sense of gravitas from the game's storyline when it rarely felt like anything dramatic was really happening, or when your actions didn't really change the outcome. You get this big dangerous set piece of an invasion and oh my god the horror and bad shit going down and...then fight some zombies. The same ones you've been clearing in droves for days. BUT THIS TIME IT'S SERIOUS! OH THOSE ARE SOME BAD ZOMBIES. That you just killed. Five at a time. Like it was nothing. Hunh. Oh well, everyone dies anyway. What? Why was I even here if I have no impact on the outcome of events? This is without even getting into how storyline quests could be broken to the point of impossibility to complete. I just never managed to stay immersed in the game long enough for its lore to feel like it had any importance. It just didn't gel with the gameplay.

I did, however, find it hilarious that the game spoils itself if you take too long to do story missions. How, you ask? Well, if you don't go do the dungeon storyline missions as they come up, if you instead just keep leveling and doing your personal thing, you'll keep getting mail from NPCs about the progressively higher level dungeon story missions as you level up to their range. NPC letters which will completely spoil whatever happened in the previous dungeon, usually by reminding you of your role in them.

Remember how Character W betrayed us at the end of Dungeon Y? (Uh, no, I didn't do--) And how you helped us escape their trap? (But I didn't--) Well we've found out Character W is joining forces with Character X in Dungeon Z! Come help us out again! (...Character X? You mean the one giving me this quest? Oh. Well, I guess it's good to know I'm secretly working for a bad guy. Thanks. I look forward to their completely surprising ambush in the next quest or two.)

GW2 is just kind of a mess. I think of it mainly as a great game design lesson. There are some excellent mechanics in it that other games (WoW included) could stand to learn from, mainly the grouping/event things and some of the other dynamically generated stuff, crafting acceleration (dear lord I wish LotRO made you craft things faster if you're smelting 200 bars at a time, PLEASE TURBINE, PLEASE), some other gameplay elements like those. But as a game to actually play? Not so good. Fun for a first playthrough, depending on how determined you are to get to the end (because Orr can fuck right off, honestly), but after that, eh. C+/B- material overall, maybe.

Started playing SWTOR last week. I have enjoyed it thus far, even though it keeps demanding my money in most obnoxius ways possible. Money which I am now more disinclined to give it if it wasn't whining about it constantly.

Anyway, the combat is enjoyable enough and I love the questing in it. AND I normally HATE questing. I am unable to level at all in wow and GW2 these days because of boredom, but with SWTOR I constantly have the next goal just in my reach and I need to find out what happens next in the class story.

Started playing SWTOR last week. I have enjoyed it thus far, even though it keeps demanding my money in most obnoxius ways possible. Money which I am now more disinclined to give it if it wasn't whining about it constantly.

Subscribe now! Subscribe now! Hey, you know what? You could subscribe now to do things most free to play games don't restrict!

Oh, it's just that Sylvannas makes these noises that she's not Scourge, and yet, she wants the EXACT same thing they do. To wipe out ALL life in the name of Undeath. She may think she and her 'Forsaken' have free will, but their nothing but Scourge by another name.

And don't get me started on the Lore, which they've beaten, abused and twisted in the name of convenience. Oh what the hell! 'Ere we go!

Like for example, the whole Blood Elf BS. Some background for those who may play WoW but not know or really care (which is totally your right) but the High Elves, after leaving the Night Elves to their own devices, were trying to settle down have their own lands, but they were having problems with Trolls. As in genocidal ones. Along come humans. A tribe of primitive screwheads fighting Trolls, and generally being annoying. Elves desperate to try and stop the slaughter of pointy ears (as they make wonderful necklaces, and they're so tasty too! Just ask the Trolls!) decide "WTF, let's see if they have any aptitude for magic. What can we lose?" And so they do. Boy Howdy, can humans use magic! They don't have the elegant finesse that the elves bring, but humies can brute force their way through any and all problems! And so for the next few THOUSAND years or so, Humans and Elves become GREAT friends.

Which according to Blizzard can be undone in about... 24 hours. Because suddenly, Humans become xenophobic racists, even against their former, and I daresay, their longest lasting allies. Even better, these Elves, who are still sworn enemies of the Trolls, and who have been fighting them still in recent memory, (like the last two wars!) are A-OK with joining the Horde whose housing a Troll tribe. Now, you say, "But the Darkspear tribe aren't like the others!" which is very valid and true! But I ask you this, do you think Elves would really care to take the time to know? Basing it on human history, I'd say "HELL NO!" They should still be seen as bad guys, so much so that even the newly renamed Blood Elves should not want to join them.

But hey, Blizzard decided that the 'population imbalance' (by which they mean that there were more people playing Alliance, as opposed the execs' favourite faction, the Horde) needed to addressed, and that it seemed that a lot of players liked 'pretty races' to play, so in we shoehorn the Blood Elves we go!

Because humans is all we in the real world have to base it off of. And even if we don't, according to various sources, Blood Elves live a damn long time, centuries even, and I doubt that even they could be as enlightened to cut the Darkspear some slack. Some Elves would still remember the first two Orc/Human wars, which they joined willingly. In fact, they'd still be relatively young.

Fair point, but we've never really had allies that lasted for millennia...

...because we keep turning on them. Frankly I find it stranger that the human/elf alliance lasted as long as it did. No doubt it was due in large part to the elves keeping things steady. Which, in turn, is why I don't have as much trouble believing they'd be willing - if perhaps unhappy about it - to work alongside trolls who haven't been eating them toward a common goal.

But no the whole Belves joining the Horde thing is pretty wtf, I agree. They just, y'know, had to end up SOMEWHERE 'cause the humans dicked them out of the Alliance, so...yeah. Not as bad as Spacegoats from Russia, but still pretty awkward.

Alright. One of the things about Blood AND Night elves a lot of folks forget is till the final events of WC 3, they were essentially immortal. Death by violence was the only way they died. Blood Elves USED to be High Elves till a certain Tea bagging human by then name of Arthras stomped into their capital and destroyed the racial font of power to resurrect Kel'Thuzad. Killing 90% of all High elves in the process. Only 10% of the REMAINING survivors are still high delves, the 'blood elves' being a group that used any magic they could find to survive.

If I was one of the survivors, it might be hard to forgive humans for the recent genocide. The Darkspears, while being trolls, hadn't done anything recently. (Ie several thousand years).

The Blood elves AND the Gnomes are two of the races closest to the brink truth be told. Only like 15% of the Gnomes in Gnomeragon survived the incident that tainted their city.

And FYI..after the cleansing of the Sunwell, the Blood Elves were 'cured' of the magic addiction supposedly.

Lore has been twisted like a pretzel lately

To me? Vuljin should have shanked Garrosh on the spot at the end of the siege.

I think you mean he should've shanked Garrosh pretty early on in Cataclysm. >.>

Seriously, dude was a douche for quite a while before going all the way off the deep end, even by orc standards.

But then, I'd probably say the same of Varian.

Thing is.. Varian STEPPED back. Yeah..when he went for the stuff in the Undercity he moved to kill everyone before Jaina stopped him. At the end of the siege.. has still angry but didn't let Jaina push him into that last type. He PAUSED. He told Vul'jin, by action, 'we can both step back' and then he walked away. He let Vul'jin handle his issues.. not strike like Jaina wanted.

Granted.. I'd say Jaina has a big claim on Garrosh as well. He NUKED her people.

Thing is.. Varian STEPPED back. Yeah..when he went for the stuff in the Undercity he moved to kill everyone before Jaina stopped him. At the end of the siege.. has still angry but didn't let Jaina push him into that last type. He PAUSED. He told Vul'jin, by action, 'we can both step back' and then he walked away. He let Vul'jin handle his issues.. not strike like Jaina wanted.

Granted.. I'd say Jaina has a big claim on Garrosh as well. He NUKED her people.

Here's the thing, BOTH of them (Garrosh and Varian) stepped back. In one of the Scenarios, Varian actually used tactics, while Tyrande Whisperwind was urging for attack. He started to use his head. In fact, you see some of it in Wrath of The Lich King, where he let the Orc Commander take the body of his Death Knight son instead of listening to the Dwarven King.

Garrosh had a scene in Stonetalon, where the Orc commander was pretty much destroying (I believe) the Druid holdings, with the dryads and sons of Cenarius. And at the end, Garrosh shows up and sees what his minion has done, and kills him. Because murdering them all was not his plan, which he had detailed to said commander. He spares you, because you're just a grunt and didn't know better. But Green Jesus needs to star in his own show again, so they had Garry backslide into idiocy.

Here's the thing, BOTH of them (Garrosh and Varian) stepped back. In one of the Scenarios, Varian actually used tactics, while Tyrande Whisperwind was urging for attack. He started to use his head. I

Worst piece of lore in the whole expansion that I have seen. Tyrande has lead an army that is focused on querilla tactics for ten thousand years and through three of perhaps the most horrifying wars in the worlds history.

...And needs to get lectured about patience and not charging in by Varian who has what, two or so decades of experience in commanding battles? What the fuck Blizzard. What the fuck.

Here's the thing, BOTH of them (Garrosh and Varian) stepped back. In one of the Scenarios, Varian actually used tactics, while Tyrande Whisperwind was urging for attack. He started to use his head. In fact, you see some of it in Wrath of The Lich King, where he let the Orc Commander take the body of his Death Knight son instead of listening to the Dwarven King.

Garrosh had a scene in Stonetalon, where the Orc commander was pretty much destroying (I believe) the Druid holdings, with the dryads and sons of Cenarius. And at the end, Garrosh shows up and sees what his minion has done, and kills him. Because murdering them all was not his plan, which he had detailed to said commander. He spares you, because you're just a grunt and didn't know better. But Green Jesus needs to star in his own show again, so they had Garry backslide into idiocy.

That's just it.. Thrall ISN"T back. He didn't step up as Warchief. He's still got his duty to the circle. He knows he can't lead. My take.. he chose wrongly.. he came to the siege to fix that mistake.

Worst piece of lore in the whole expansion that I have seen. Tyrande has lead an army that is focused on querilla tactics for ten thousand years and through three of perhaps the most horrifying wars in the worlds history.

...And needs to get lectured about patience and not charging in by Varian who has what, two or so decades of experience in commanding battles? What the fuck Blizzard. What the fuck.

After my rant about Blood Elves and the whole suddenly switching sides thing, I've sort of given up on Blizzard and making sense. Truth be told, I'd have rather have had one of the Dwarven leaders be the one urging for combat, over Tyrande, or maybe another instance of Jaina...

That's why. Blizzard has an institutionalized mentality of 'We know what you want, and anything you say cannot dissuade us from the sincere belief that not only do we know better, but you're an idiot for even trying.'

As opposed to the guys at Grinding Gear Games, makes of Path of Exile, who listen to their community for the most part and try to make good changes...who are maintaining Path of Exile as an always online game regardless mainly so that it can't be hacked to pieces (the way Diablo 2 was)?

Actually, Sel, Blizz found out that they were wrong about D3 being online only. Even people who wanted it, don't, apparently. Can't find the article, but they realized. Not doing anything about it, like Blizz normally does, but...

Either way, I've been playing WoW for so long, my friends would literally call the cops if I don't show without saying something.

To me? Vuljin should have shanked Garrosh on the spot at the end of the siege.

Vol'Jin still had too much respect for Thrall, and Thrall was the one who agreed to let Garrosh stand trial. So while Big V did have the biggest right to a shanking if one was going to happen, it wouldn't have been in character for him to do it there.

As for why Thrall/Varian let Garrosh live to begin with - I'm in the camp that thinks it's the worst thing they could have done to him. If they had killed him, he would have died happy...defeated, but defeated in honorable combat, and executed by an Orc at least. But making him stand trial for his crimes (that he doesn't think were wrong), then locking him up for the rest of his life instead of giving him a warrior's death, would have been horribly humiliating. And it would have worked (based on one of the alt-future visions from TI), if Someone *coughKairozcough* didn't intervene and spring Garry from jail.

Actually, Sel, Blizz found out that they were wrong about D3 being online only. Even people who wanted it, don't, apparently. Can't find the article, but they realized. Not doing anything about it, like Blizz normally does, but...

Either way, I've been playing WoW for so long, my friends would literally call the cops if I don't show without saying something.